Dinner at Via Vita Cafe and Wine Bar in Bellevue

This past weekend my husband and I tried out a new European Cafe in Bellevue.  The cuisine is French, Italian and Spanish.  But have you ever had a not so great restaurant experience? That's what happened to me at Via Vita Cafe.  I had my heart set on a Panini or maybe a Crepe.  But those items are only on the lunch menu.  When the server handed me a little paper menu, the list was small and nothing appealed to me at all.  Since no one was coming back to check on us and take our drink orders, I walked up to the front and asked if they had Paninis.  They told me no, but did finally hand me a happy hour menu.  I walked back to my table, puzzled, wondering why my original server didn't give me one.  I was also surprised they couldn't just whip something up for me from the lunch menu.  Oh well, I chose to be a good sport and then ordered two items from the Happy Hour menu.  I ordered the Caprese Salad and the Prosciutto Flatbread.  My husband, not seeing anything he wanted to eat on the dinner menu either, ordered the Roast Beef and Horseradish Bruschetta.  Yes, we probably should have left but we drove all the way from Seattle to Bellevue to check this place out.  Plus, I hate being one of those guests who sit down and then throw the menu down in disgust and hightail it out of there. So I was expecting French food but got Italian instead.  I think its strange to have a restaurant with both, but really, what do I know? In the end, I enjoyed my food and Flatbread is kind of like a Panini, so I couldn't really complain. 

My Caprese Salad with tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, aged balsamic and olive oil.  Sort of hard to eat, but a nice way to display it.

The Prosciutto Flatbread with mozzarella, pesto, basil and olives served with a green salad.  This was off the happy hour menu and was only $6.  When dining out, don't forget about the happy hour menu.  There are usually lots of other inexpensive options besides the Dinner menu. 

My husband's Roast Beef and Horseradish Bruschetta.  He said the Horseradish was way too much and too spicy.  Which says a lot because he usually loves spicy food. 

 I would recommend trying the lunch and the brunch instead, there seems like a lot more options and more french favorites are included.  Go to http://www.viavitacafe.com to see their menu.